Commodity cabinet



J. BOYE. COMMODITY CABINET. APPLICATION FILED NOV.29, i919.

Patented Mg. 31,1920.

- INVENTOR James H.3 y0, @QL r- Amman.

JAMES H. BoYE, or CHICAGO, ILLINoIsfAssIeNca'i-"o Janeen.- eoynrlranurhorun- ING COMPANY, on CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, aconronnrrorr or ILLINOIS.

COMMODITY-CABINET;

To all whom it may concern:

v citizen of the United States, residing at tion.

Chicago, in the county of'Cfook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Commodity-Cabinets, of which the following is a vspecifica- This invention relates to an improved commodity cabinet of the kind extensively 1 used In dry goods stores for contalnlng small articles of merchandise which are usually put up in packages of uniform size, such, I

:packages 111 thewrong compartments; to

provide-a cabinet'of the character specified;

for'instance, as sewingmachine'parts and accessories. In its principal intended use, the cabinet of my present invention is designed for the containing and dispensing of plain and sewing machine needles which,

is well known, are usually put up for the 1 2G 7 ages, each package containing a label desig nating the size or sizes of the contained" needles, with the name and trade-mark of 'the' extent of tiltingmoveme nt-so that the 1' articies ca nnotia'c'cidently slip oraslide out of the compartment or shift their position' retail trade in small rectangular paper packthe'manufacturer, the number of needles, and various other data. I in retail stores artlcles' of th1s character are usually contained'in and dispensed from an ordinary sliding drawer beneath or belllllCl the sales counter, the drawer be1ng subdivided into a number of open top compartments in wlnch the packages are dlstributed according to .the sizes or makes of the" each compartment containing of a certain size or make. This of landmeans for housing and dis-' needles manner pensing the object of my present inventionto' overcome. in the first place, when the compart-' mentsare completely filled the individual, packages .are usually disposed in upright position and in closely packed arrangement therein, the width of each compartment be-f mg such as to ju'stfit the width of the pack" ages.- After several ;of the packages have been removed, the remainder will fall down and lie fiat,and in that" position, are difiicult to remove with the thumb and finger. In the second place, when the drawer is' opened, all of the compartments are exposed, a'nd in replacing the packages within the compart ments mistakes are easily made, andin a short time the various sizes and makes become more or less mixed up.

With the Se defects in mindfI has desmall articlesof this nature ha's at' least two defects or drawbacks, WhlCllll] ,Is

" Figure l is a vised the commodity cabinet embodying'the present invention, which has for its principal objects to provide-a holderyor container for articles' such as needle packages,

"containing individual compartments Where in the indiyidualpackages will always be 1 equally easy of withdrawal and wherein their positions willfnot. befichanged and rendered lessaccessible {after part of the packages have been withdrawn; to provide a cabinet of the character specified of such ai nature and constructionas to render it practically impossible to {accidentally replace wherein the individual compartmentswill all be normally closed, and 'will automatiacally close by gravity from open position when released to provide a'cabinet'of-the character specified wherein each'of the re ceptacles or compartments can-beopened only by: tilting the same to open position,

and wherein meansare provided to" limit pensive and handy cabinet for'the containing and dispensing of-small articles of mer chandise, which may be made-from sheet metal ln'l ght and durable form,-and which is well adapted toidisplay advantageously 'ftoboth'th'e dealer and the customer sample Identifying packages which are 'attachedffto the, upper wall of each compartment; I Other objects and attendant advantages 1 er the invention awillj he apparent'to those familiar with"articles ofthis generalinature from" the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which I have lllustrated one package's 0f plain or 1 sewing machine needles; J F1g. 2 1s a verticalpross section of the same from the front to rears p Fig; 3 1s a cross sect on through the upper I 1eo- '1 practical embodiment of the invent on, and a portion of one of the receptacles r holders,

showing a simple device for fastening a. sample identifying package thereto; and

Fig. 4 is a horizontal cross section through one of the individual holders orreceptacles.

Referring to the drawing, 5 designates the front:wall, 6 the rear wall, and 7 the side walls of a rectangular supporting frame or casing resting on four corner legs 9.

.Tl ese parts as shown-are preferably made of V 7 sheet metal, includingthe legs 9, which latter are conveniently attached to the side and end walls by means of lntegral J-inarginal tongues or lugs. .10 on the edges of the legs which pass through and arebent inwardly against the innersides of the side and end walls, thereby uniting the latter to each rigidity is imparted to the frame byforming inturned flanges 11 onthe lower edges of the 7 ,side and end walls. -On theupper edge of the front wall 5 there is preferably formed anarrow oblique lip 5 which forms a stop or rest for the forwardly projectingportions of the top walls of the individual receptacles hereinafter described, and on the upper edge.

of the rear wall 6 is a similar oblique lip 6.

Extending between the side walls 7,.in the double row construction herein illustrated, is

a partition wall 13 parallel with, the front and rear walls 5 and 6, and supported at its lower-edge by'a foot flange 14 resting on the foot flanges 11 of the side walls 7. The ends of the partition 13 havetonguesle extending through slits inthe side walls 7 and bent to lie flat'a'gainst thelatter, whereby'the wall 13is maintained rigidly in position. The

'wall13, like the front-wall 5, is provided at, its upper edge with a narrow oblique lip 13 forming astop or rest for the forwardly pro ecting portions of the rear rowof receptacles.

V 1 parallel side walls 18'having inwardly bent Mounted in and extending between the side walls 7 a shortfdistance in advance of the intermediate and'rear walls 13 and 6,'arepair of hin e-rods 17 on which are hinged .a plurality V of individual holders or receptacles for the packages. Asthese receptaclesare-all alike, a description of one will suiiice V for all. Each receptacle, in'the form herein shown, is cut and pressed into shape from a single blank of sheet metal, andcomprises Frear flanges 19 the edges of which meet, to-

, gether: forming the rear wall, similar bottom flanges 20, the ec ges of which meettoform the'bottom wall, a top wall 21 having a rear downwardly inclined'e'Xtension 22 and a sub- .stantially horizontakforward extension 23; the front end of the receptacle being open. On the edges of the rear eXtension'22 are depending flanges 24; through which is passed the hinge-rod l7, and on the forward extension 23 'are narrow depending flanges25 which, inthe closed position of the recep- "tacle, rest upon the narrow the frame.

lip 5" or 13 of These individual holdersfare mounted side by side in the supporting frame or casing,

and are all normally in the closed position shown in Fig. 1 and at the left of Fig. 2'by reason of their gravity eiiect. in this closed position the openfront ends ofjthe receptacles lie behind and are covered by the frame'walls 5 and 18. ,The individual packages of needles indicated at 26' in Fig. 2, are disposed in each receptacle in superposed relation in the fashionindicated atthe left of Fig.

of identical goods. Inorder to convene ientlyidentify the contents of eachyreceptacle without opening the latter, a sample package is secured to the top wall of the receptacle; and a-convenient meansfor at taching such sample identifying packageis I shown in Figs-1 and 3 and consists of small prongs or fingers cut and pressed upwardly from the metal of the top wall, and

2, each receptacle containingpackages bent over the edges of the sample package 26 in thefashion clearly shown. 7

In the use of the cabinet assumin that it w I) D has been loaded or cnarged with uniform packages containing needles of different sizes or assorten sizes, eacl'i'receptaole con- 1 taining packages of the same size orassortments, thedealer ident fies the proper rei ceptacle by a glance .atthe sample or iden tifying package 26", passes his thumb beneath forward extension 28, tilts'therecep tacle upto the position illustrated at the "right inFig. 2, withdraws the topmost package, and then lets the receptacle drop to closed position; if the package withdrawn is o-fth'e wrong size, orfor any other reason is not accepted'by the customer, the dealer is "not likely to accidentally returnit to the wrong receptacle, because an the-receptacles are closed and he must first open the right receptacle in order to replace it; and in doing thishe 'is guided by the saniple'or' identifying package on thetop wall of the correct receptacle. "It will also be obvious that as the individual packages are withdrawn, the remaining packages retain their ori inal positions and cannot fall iiitoimore 1 orless inaccessible positions w thinthe rece'pt'acles. Furthermore, since-all of the re-' ceptacles are normally maintained in closed position, and when opened returned'to'closed lposition by gravity, the packages atal'l;

times are protected from dust and dirt.

WVhen any receptacle-in the fro nt'row is opened, theffo'rward edge of the extension .23 of the receptacle lying directly inthe rear thereof 'formsa stop to limit theopening movement; and when any receptacle of the rear row is similarly open'edthe hp '6' on similar stop to limit" its opening movement.

Thesejlimiting devices are such that the re-.

the upper edge of the rear wall 6 forms a 7 ceptacle cannot be opened to a position in which it will rem'ainat rest in open position, but must necessarily drop to closed position by gravity the moment the receptacle is released.

be clear from the foregoing description of its structure and method of manipulation. Manifestly, minor changes of detail may be 7 made without altering its essential character or sacrificing any of the advantages inherent therein. Hence, I reserve all such variations and modifications as fall'within the spirit and purview of the'appended claims.

I claim- I 1. A commodity cabinet of the'character described, comprising a supporting frame having a wall extending between opposite sides thereof, and a pluralityof commodity receptacles disposed side by side between said sides of the frame, each of said recept acles havingtop,bottom, side and rearwalls and a front opening lying behind said frame wall, said receptacles beinghinged at their rear ends so as to tilt upwardly and thereby expose their front openings above said frame wall.

v 2. A commodity cabinet of the character oesoribed, com rising a supporting frame having a wall extending between opposite sides thereof, and a plurality of commodity receptacles disposed side by side between said sides of the frame, each ofsaid receptacles having top, bottom, side and rear walls,

and a front opening lying behind said frame,

wall, said receptacles being hinged at their rear ends so as to tilt upwardlyand thereby expose their frontopenings above said frame wall,-and a transverse ledge on said 7 frame above and in rear of thehinges of said receptacles for limiting 'the extent of upward tilting movement of the latter. 1 V

3. A commodity cabinet of the character This is an important feature and advantage of the present invention, because i of dust and dirt; to the described, comprising a supporting. frame having a wall extendlng between opposite sides thereof, and a plurahty'of commod1ty receptacles"disposed side by j side between said sides of the frame, each of said receptacles having top, bottom, side and rear walls and a front opening lying behind said frame wall, said receptacles being hinged at their rear ends so as to tilt upwardly and thereby expose their front openings above said frame wall, and the top walls of said receptacles being extended forwardly'of their front upper edge openings and resting upon the of sa1d frame wall.

a. A commod1ty described comprising a rectangular supporting frame having substantially vertical cabinetof the character front and sidewalls and corner legs, a'

hinge rod extending between said side walls parallel with said front "wall, and a row of commodityreceptacles pivoted at their rear, ends on saidhinge rod, each ofsaidreceptae cles having-an open front end lying behind the front wall of said supporting frame, and

the top walls of said receptaclesbeingexi tended forwardly o their open front ends and resting upon and overhanging 'the'top edge 'of the front wall of sa1d supporting frame, whereby each of said receptaolesf s normally held closed by gravity and may be tilted upwardly to expose its open front end. V 1 y 7 5. A commodity cabinet of thecharaoter described, comprising a rectangular support,

f ing frame having substantially vertical front and side walls and corner legs, a hinge rod extending between said sidewalls paralmodity receptacles cles having top, bottom, side and rear walls I lel with said front wall, anda row of comdisposed side side be-f tween'said side walls, each of sa1d reoeptaA and an open front end lying behind'thew front wall of said supporting frame,'and the;

top walls of said receptacles having downwardly inclined rear extens ons pivoted on said hinge rodand forward exten'sionslrests ing upon and overhanging thetop' edge of the front wall of saidsupporting framej JAMES H. BOYE. j 

